Prerequisites for Assessing Whether to Engage in Collaborative Software Development in a Government Setting

Abstract

This article discusses a systematic process to determine whether to engage in collaborative software development of desktop applications in a government setting. Section One discusses collaboration and collaborative development. Then, after assessment of the strengths and weaknesses, a development team should have a better understanding for choosing a program-specific solution for collaborative development. Section Two assesses whether the conditions are favorable to pursue collaborative development for an existing project. An algorithm is provided for government agencies to gauge the success of collaborative development for a specific application. If a development team is able to (a) obtain copyright permission ; (b) create an open development infrastructure; (c) pass through federal, organizational, and legal barriers; and (d) freely release the application's source code to the public, conditions may be favorable for collaborative development.